Navy veteran cleared of conspiracy charges in high-profile Jan. 6 case is sentenced to time served

[January 11, 2025]  By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

WASHINGTON (AP) — A retired Navy intelligence officer who was cleared of the most serious charges in his U.S. Capitol attack trial alongside Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes avoided additional time behind bars when he was sentenced on Friday.

Thomas Caldwell was acquitted by a jury in Washington's federal court of seditious conspiracy and two other conspiracy offenses in one of the most serious cases brought by the Justice Department in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. And one of two counts he was found guilty on at trial was dismissed in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year.

Prosecutors had alleged at trial that Caldwell helped coordinate “quick reaction force” teams prosecutors said the Oath Keepers stationed outside the capital city to get weapons into the hands of extremists if they were needed. The weapons were never deployed, and lawyers for the Oath Keepers said they were only there for defensive purposes in case of attacks from left-wing activists.

But Caldwell, who didn't enter the Capitol, took the witness stand and played down messages he sent leading up to Jan. 6, including one floating the idea about getting a boat to ferry “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River. Caldwell said he was never serious about it, calling it “creative writing.”

His lawyer noted at trial that Caldwell was a disabled veteran who sometimes uses a cane to walk, telling jurors he “couldn’t storm his way out of a paper bag.” Attorney David Fischer argued that there was no plot to attack the Capitol, saying his client wasn’t even planning to go to the building until Trump’s speech on the Ellipse urging his supporters to “fight like hell."

Prosecutors had sought four years in prison for Caldwell on his remaining obstruction of justice offense conviction for deleting messages after the riot. Prosecutors described him in court papers as “an avid and willing participant in an unprecedented crime.”

Caldwell's attorney told U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in court documents that his client's acquittal on the conspiracy charges and “military service that resulted in a lifetime of debilitating injuries" call for a sentence of time served. He spent more than 50 days behind bars after his 2021 arrest.

“Mr. Caldwell was cleared of the four most serious counts and sentenced to no additional jail time by a highly respected federal judge," Fischer said in an email. "Obviously, he should be considered for a pardon by President Trump.”

Trump has suggested he will pardon at least a large portion of the than 1,500 people who have been charged with federal crimes in the largest investigation in Justice Department history.

Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder, is among 14 defendants who were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said were violent plots to keep Trump in power. Rhodes is serving an 18-year prison sentence.

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